FOX Wants To Keep Ryan Seacrest (And Ryan Wants to Stay!) UPDATE

By On 01/08/2012 · 36 Comments · In American Idol, Ryan Seacrest

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UPDATE: At today’s American Idol panel, Ryan Seacrest said, “”I love this television show… and I can’t imagine life without American Idol,”.  Reality chief, Mike Darnell says, “I think everyone has come to realize the value of Ryan Seacrest. It’s very hard to imagine [American Idol] without Ryan. We certainly want to keep him,” (Via THR)

The subject of Ryan Seacrest’s negotiation to return to American Idol as host came up today at the TCA FOX Executive session.  FOX Entertainment President, Kevin Reilly, says the network wants to keep Ryan, but the negotiations will be tough.  However,  he doesn’t expect talks to drag out.  (Via The Hollywood Reporter)

“As we know it is a much harder job than meets the eye,” said Reilly as the network’s TCA session on Sunday. “I thnk everyone has come to realize the value of Ryan Seacrest. It’s very hard to imagine [American Idol] without Ryan. We certainly want to keep him.”

And Reilly noted that the Seacrest deal will be “a tough negotiation,”  but one he expects to “come to a conclusion pretty quickly.”

Ryan’s  annual 15 million dollar contract is up this year.  Reports say FOX wants Ryan to take a pay cut, But with Jennifer Lopez reportedly making 20 million a year,  that doesn’t seem likely. In the meantime, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Ryan’s camp have become frustrated:

Insiders say that Seacrest’s representatives have become frustrated with the lack of Idol negotiations. “Fox has been doing nothing, they’ve been sitting there. Until [Thursday] they hadn’t called Ryan,” says one source.

Ryan’s deal with Comcast’s NBC Universal is also up for renewal. He produces/stars on  E News and produces reality fare for the company, including the Kardashian franchise.  Keeping Ryan in the NBC family is a high priority. He met with NBC News in December about opportunities on the Today Show. Ryan is already set to make occasional appearances in the 9 am. hour. NBC denies that Ryan is being sought to take co-host, Matt Lauer’s position if he leaves.

I think American Idol needs Ryan Seascrest more than the busy media mogul needs them.  FOX would be crazy not to pony up the dough.

 
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  • JEssy

    I wish Idol would just come up with some creative new stuff…Im bored by it – and Im in the minority, but I wasn’t impressed by Jlo and Steven Tyler, and I definitely could do without Dawg Randy at this point…They might have wanted some consistency with the other judge changes, but for now, he’s dead weight.  If Ryan leaves, then they should take the opportunity to just retool the entire show from top to bottom.  I know it would never happen, but would like to see Ryan host X Factor and see how he’d impact that format.  Im pretty sure Mariah is gonna be a judge & that will add star power and coo-coo crazy to the panel.  I don’t know are people going to watch Idol & Voice?  Its a lot of singing competish for me , esp after X Factor…Its  just too many mediocre singers singing the same songs over and over and over….

  • http://twitter.com/KariannHart Kariann Hart

    I do like JLo but no person is worth 20 million dollars for a short season.  Ryan deserves a pay.   He is like the heart of the show.  All the judges need to up the game. 

    I still adore Cat Deeley on SYTYCD!

  • Kesia Monteith

    I’m in the minority, but I’m sorry….aside from stift, awkward Steve Jones and his terrible hosting job…Ryan Seacrest can anchor a show, but he is the blandest, most vanilla, average TV personality I know today. Cat Deely and Tom Bergernon have more spark and personality, and I have more respect for them. They have more hosting talent, and are unfortunately not as paid as much as these overrated “judges” on Idol, X-Factor or The Voice, nor does the cast of The Sing-off get the same respect. Shame.

  • Anonymous

    At least Ryan does his job which I can’t say is true for JLo.  They can get rid of her and get somebody else that will critique and not be there to sell their albums.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BTBLQCZR7Y7LHV5BFYKYW5UQ6Q Aden

    By reading some of the posts for AI S11, it seems like AI is going totally country. I assume because of economy down time or recession still country folks listen to country songs and support their felow/gals country singers.  AI should have country host and judges.  Brings them more viewers.  Hence more revenue.

  • Jewlmc

    LOL. As if Tom and Cat are any less “Vanilla.” Please.

  • Anonymous

    blasphemy! Idol forever! No more crazy talk. ;) …no seriously, I would be very disappointed if I were forced to watch ONLY the other singing shows you are referring to. Idol is the best. The other shows will likely end in 2013, not Idol. But I think it would hurt AI if Ryan moves over to Xfactor.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VCEZD3N6FHT6AVC6TG7VKTBONQ Raftrap

    If FOX is really serious about asking Ryan Seacrest (the obvious winner of Talent-show-palooza 2011) for a paycut, they should at least find a clever way to ask him, how about two for the price of one? instead of 15 mil for Idol, how about 20 or 25 for both “X Factor” and “Idol”, it’s a win-win.

  • ptebwwong

    I think this would be the longest singing competition show. If you’re talking about reality shows in general, I think Survivor is on season 25 this year & The Real World has had 26 seasons.

  • Anonymous

    Tom Bergeron has a very varied career from which to rely, but unfortunately his talent is now wasted on shows like America’s Funniest Videos and DWTS. That being said though, I think he works now in one of the most controlled environment of the competition shows (I became a fan of his when he hosted Fox’s all too brief morning show). DWTS seems to be the most scripted of the shows and, save a Marie Osmond fainting or a POed Max, pretty much everything on the show is going to play out as planned. I think Ryan thinks better on his feet than Cat, but she is also very good.

  • Anonymous

    I couldn’t agree more Kirsten. If Idol loses Ryan, two things will happen: 1) The replacement host won’t be very good; and 2) Ryan will immediately go to X Factor or The Voice anyway. 

    Win-win if he stays, huge loss for Idol if he goes. 

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